episode_0094

‘You got it right!’

It was enough… I felt that. My hands are getting tired. He ran to first base, but the batter’s instinct speaks for itself. This batted ball won’t go over. And as I expected, the Japanese left fielder easily caught the ball in front of the warning track.

‘164km/h… .’

The speed captured on the electronic display was close to Ohtani’s highest speed seen in yesterday’s analysis video.

“Ah-oh! Seed! foot!”

Empty! Thong, thong.

I arrived at first base and threw down my helmet, but this anger did not go away.

I was pushed out? Even though it’s 164… . I knew what type of pitch it was and where to throw it. Still, I was pushed back.

‘Tsk tsk. It’s not at the major level yet. It was far. ‘Monkey.’

Rossby is right. Even though Ohtani was one of the best pitchers in the major leagues, he was not an all-time great pitcher. And yet, I was pushed back. It means I wasn’t good enough. I was annoyed at being bullied by Otani, but I was even more angry at myself for being the only one who could do this. Even with Rossby’s help, I couldn’t get this ball over the fence… !

‘Tsk, don’t blame yourself too much. ‘Because I wasn’t hit properly.’

‘… yes?’

‘If I had hit the sweet spot properly, I would have passed. But his ball was faster than you thought, and it hit the bottom.’

‘… is that so?’

‘okay. In baseball, even if you throw a ball 150 mph, if it hits the sweet spot properly, it will pass. ‘You guessed wrong.’

‘… Where’s 150 miles?’

150 miles would be about 240 km/h. The bragging… . Still, hearing Rossby’s encouragement gave me a little strength. Yes, if I guessed it right, it would have passed. The problem was that I went in thinking that the pitch would be in the mid to late 150s.

‘You went in thinking of being in the mid to late 150s? Rather surprising. Still, you hit the ball. ‘How did you do it?’

‘It’s just that the ball seems to leave my hand faster.’

‘That’s what I see…’ ? crazy… .’

But what should I do with what I see? After finishing my conversation with Rossby and picking up the helmet I had thrown down, I went into the dugout and the seniors of the national team greeted me.

“It was a waste.”

“Don’t be discouraged.”

Thump, thump. And the hand that pats me.

“hey! don’t worry. “My brother will stop everything.”

“Seniors… !”

“Don’t worry about other kids, swing with confidence! Understand? As I said before, my brother will stop everything.”

*

[iced coffee! It doesn’t work. ah! Should I skip it? Should I skip it? ah… . Ohtani hits a solo home run in the bottom of the third inning. The score is now 1:0. under… . This is where Seonghyun’s fatal mistake came out… .]

[No matter how much the change-up didn’t fall, he picked up the ball all at once. Of course, Ohtani. That’s a good swing… . As expected, he is a man of great power who hit 40 home runs for two consecutive years in the major league.]

[But it’s still only 1 point. Seonghyeon also needs to stop being conscious of the score.]

[Because Seonghyun is a veteran, he is used to situations like this.]

[As I speak, Seonghyun makes a ground ball to second base with the first pitch! After all, it’s Seonghyeon!]

[He showed really good pitching in a situation where the atmosphere could easily have been overshadowed! This is Seonghyeon!]

[Now, Seonghyun’s pitch count is 44, and at this pace, it looks like he can go up to the 5th inning. Now let’s move on to Korea’s attack in the beginning of the 4th inning.]

“Congratulations on the home run.”

“Why to this extent? Now don’t worry and just swing. “I will catch all the remaining batters.”

Ohtani responded appropriately to his teammates and thought about his pitch count.

‘Let’s see, I threw 19 pitches until the 3rd inning, so a complete shutout would be possible at this pace, right?’

While thinking about that, Otani shook his head.

‘As expected, since the cycle has come full circle, are you going to come up with a different strategy?’

Now that the cycle has come full circle, we will come up with a different strategy, right? In Ohtani’s eyes, there was no Korean player who could hit his ball.

‘Is it at least the best level?’

Teammate Choi Joo-tae’s swing was sharp even in his opinion. However, although he was sharp, he was not a hitter who could produce long hits. Aside from that, there were Korean designated hitters and left fielders that he occasionally faced in the majors, but it wasn’t enough for him to worry about them.

and… .

‘ji? I guess the swing is pretty fast.’

A batsman I see for the first time. Korean second baseman, Ji Maeng-ho. Since there was no video during the power analysis, he was a batter who only watched and analyzed the video of the home run from yesterday’s game between Korea and Australia. The first thing I noticed when I saw the video was that the bat speed was quite fast.

And the first at-bat. Ji Maeng-ho was a fun opponent for Ohtani, who was bored. Even though he was focused on two strikes, he had the courage not to react to a ball that was delicately thrust into his body. And even though it clearly looks like a miss, the power is sent to the back of left field.

Although he wasn’t paying much attention to anyone other than the major leaguers, Otani couldn’t help but smile at the thought of meeting an interesting player. Competing with good players was always welcome.

‘Then shall we go quickly?’

I want to face that hitter again.

154, 157, 146, 156, 141.

“jitterbug! Strike out!”

He struck out Joo-Tae Choi on five pitches.

156, 159.

Damn!

“second!”

He caught Joo Seung-cheol with a fly to second base with two balls.

141, 141, 160.

“Strike~! out!”

And he struck out Ki Ki-ju on three pitches.

‘Now if I only have to face five batters, will I be that batter?’

Korea’s number 9 hitter, with fighting spirit burning in his eyes. You said you were a rookie, right? His eyes were filled with the intention of hitting the ball like a rookie. Those eyes and determination that make you swing the bat no matter what ball you throw. While I could feel the thought that ‘I won’t be able to hit it anyway’ embedded in the subconscious of other Korean players, that player was different.

29 balls have been thrown so far. The number of pitches was sufficient to take the game to Korea’s 9th batter.

*

“Thank you for your effort.”

“sorry. “I should have thrown a little more.”

Seonghyeon came off the mound with one out in the fifth inning. 4.1 innings, 1 run allowed. All the players in the dugout applauded Seong-Hyun, who held on for a long time, allowing only one run against Japan’s hard-hitting line.

And Jung Woo-sung on the mound. Starting pitcher currently playing in Pittsburgh. Last year’s record in the major league was 10 wins and 8 losses. 3.97. and 158 strikeouts. A strikeout machine with a major league career SO/9 (strikeouts per 9 innings) of over 9.00.

Lee Geum-hyun, the coach of the Korean national team, brought up Korea’s second ace, Jung Woo-sung, just like the strategy he had planned yesterday.

‘Woosung, I believe.’

Lee Geum-hyun just trusted the player. Like the pitching that Seonghyun showed, I hope Jung Woo-sung also shows the same kind of pitching. Moreover, Jung Woo-sung is a pitcher who started his career in the bullpen. He was the most reliable player.

“Swing strike! out!”

“Swing strike! out!”

And Jung Woo-sung also showed on the mound why he is in the major league. Korean fans who came all the way to Japan to watch the game gave a standing ovation to Jung Woo-sung, who struck out two batters with nine pitches.

“Director, can we continue like this? Ohtani’s pitch count is 54, so now it’s time to increase the pitch count… .”

“no. “Just go ahead.”

Anyway, a new pitcher comes out after the 6th inning. Then, we need to instill confidence in the next batters. If you show a change in strategy here, the players will become anxious.

With that in mind, Geum-Hyeon Lee decided to push forward with the strategy he had discussed before the game.

‘And although the current hitters are said to be at the bottom of the batting lineup, they are the center hitters for their respective teams. ‘You have to believe me.’

-Kim Su-ho! Kim Soo-ho!

You can hear the crowd cheering for Kim Soo-ho.

-Get a hit! AT Kim! number! like! Give me a hit! A! T! seaweed! number! like! Fly~ Fly~ Fly~ Fly~! AT Kim Su-ho!

And Kim Su-ho’s cheering song resonates.

‘under… . ‘It’s difficult.’

However, Kim Su-ho’s thoughts while listening to the cheering song were complicated.

‘I don’t think I can hit it. After all, I just have to do it in my own style.’

Kim Soo-ho decided to erase his complicated thoughts and deal with Ohtani in the way he was good at. The strategy of looking at fastballs made sense at first glance, but it was not the right method for Kim Su-ho.

When Su-ho Kim, who had hit 20 home runs for 5 consecutive years at NV Rex, first transferred to the AT Thunders, fans were suspicious of him.

-Why did you bring in a guy who can’t even hit 30 home runs in a hitter-friendly stadium? Jamsil has a hitter who fits Jamsil.

However, Kim Su-ho captured the hearts of AT fans within the first season of his transfer. Kim Su-ho’s real strength was not his ability to hit the ball far. Of course, his slugging power decreased as he moved to Jamsil, but Kim Su-ho’s eyes remained alive.

The difference between Kim Su-ho’s career batting average and on-base percentage is 0.101. And in a career-high season, he showed a batting gap (difference between on-base percentage and batting average) of 0.131.

Kim Su-ho decided to play like himself against Ohtani. Although it was different from the director’s strategy, Kim Su-ho firmly believed that people would understand this much.

“strike!”

“cheek.”

“Foul.”

“Foul.”

“cheek.”

“cheek.”

Kim Soo-ho, who had not held the bat briefly even when he moved to Jamsil, made a foul by holding the bat briefly and drew a full count from Ohtani.

and.

“Base on balls!”

Ohtani, who had been on a perfect streak until the 5th inning, got first base for the first time.

‘I was lucky.’

Kim Soo-ho got a walk because Ohtani’s last ball slipped out of his hand, but in baseball, luck is also skill.

“The main runner, Yang Ji-hyuk!”

“Good, Suho!”

“Senior Suho! Nice on base.”

And at first base is Korea’s best runner, Yang Ji-hyuk. Daedo stole 40 bases last season. Although the stolen base ranking was third base, the player who is considered the best in Korea for base running and base running sense stood at first base.

And the choice of bench… .

-bunt!

A bunt strategy was launched to steal one point. The next batter is catcher Lee Yong-gi.

Lee Yong-gi was familiar with bunts because he had been climbing the course step by step at Hancheol Farm. Although he doesn’t bunt now, Lee Yong-gi was familiar with bunting, having made 12 sacrifice bunts in one season.

widely!

“first!”

“out!”

Now the runner is on second base with one out. With 4 pitches left for Ohtani, Ji Maeng-ho came to the plate.